:::::::::=>v TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO B:-""" 



Finches of various kinds flitted amono- the under- 

 brush, c'Hnging- to the seed panicles or scratching among 

 the dead leaves. The most abundant were the soft- 

 chirping Black-headed Grosbeaks, looking in their 

 winter garb like giant sj)arrows. With these were 

 many gray and brown-headed Sinaloa Sparrows of the 

 southern sj)ecies — closely related to the Texas Sparrow. 

 Hepatic Tanagers and Turquoise-fronted Buntings 

 mino'led with the others in the bushes or among- the 

 hanging vines. When a female of the latter species 

 hopjDed into view, the thought at once came — is it 

 possible that a female English Sparrow has penetrated 

 even to this wild region ! But the mate of the little 

 brown bird soon followed, resplendent in blues of 

 every hue — marine, cobalt, azure, turquoise ! And 

 our fears were laid to rest. 



Birds have a wonderful faculty of dodging^ when in 

 full flight, through thick underbrush and vines without 

 ruffling so much as a feather's tip ; but in this land of 

 spines and thorns they sometimes come to grief. Oc- 

 casionally a tiny half-dried skeleton clattered its little 

 bleached bones in the wind, or again we would come 

 across a bird which had recently been entangled and 

 thus met its death, perhaps a beautiful Painted Redstart. 



One tragedy of this kind will long remain in our 

 memories. Of all birds hummingbirds w^ould seem 

 most exempt from the myriad dangers which threaten 

 the race of feathered beings — the dangers from 



«4 306 A* 



